Description
Japan’s security policy is no longer confined to economic and political means, but also utilizes military means to achieve traditional and non-traditional security objectives. This illustrates the transformation of Japan’s policy of passive and minimal military usage based on the Yoshida Doctrine to a policy of “proactive contribution to peace”. A major example of this new direction is the Japanese government’s introduction of its own vision of a regional rules-based order – known as the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) - to ensure continued peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific. Many experts argue that security policy reforms like this implemented in Abe’s second administration are so radical that the Yoshida Doctrine is no longer relevant in shaping Japan’s security policy. This paper challenges that claim by presenting an anatomy of the Yoshida Doctrine and examining how its various tenets have been institutionalized and embedded into Japan’s policymaking process over time. Even though the Yoshida Doctrine has weakened, the article argues that the Yoshida Doctrine and its related principles and norms continue to set the parameters for Japan’s security discourse and influence policy outcomes.
